CSX Track Upgrades & Infrastructure of Pan Am

Minor activity but anyway---- At west side of Gilson Rd. x-ing in Littleton a mini-excavator on a trailer observed 2 days ago. Today the trailer is empty with a 10 wheel CSX hi rail boom truck with a new signal bungalow on the back parked in front of the trailer. I assume excavator is prepping area for placement of new bungalow, most likely near CPF-312.

A few observations via radio and in the field this morning---

1) 08:44 D3 in conversation with M427 about dropping stone cars at Clinton and recrew at South Meadow Rd.
2) A short time later D3 telling AY-4 they may be going to Worcester Main to drop stone.
3) About 09:30 after M426 passed through Gilson Rd., Littleton two CSX MOW trucks helping a private contractor loaded 10 wheel dump truck back down the ROW toward CPF-312.

Thanks to Brian C's post on NERAIL New England Photo Archive, we now know what happened to those gondolas with the turnouts in them I saw in Westford on November 3. They were too big to fit through some bridges in Lowell so they were brought to Nashua where they will be unloaded and trucked to Maine.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ex=4&key2=

There is another CSX rail trail enroute, this one is to drop rail from Keag West.

And so it begins . . . this is great news.

The old track at still river looks not half bad with the new stone! Maybe the old 100 pound rail survives a few more years

It's all gonna come out, but when you have so much new railroad you need to triage. Considering up to Keag is only in service by a thread thats getting the rail for now.

Totally agree there are far worse places that should be fixed first
I’m just surprised how not so bad the old stuff looks given a little care!

Might be able to go 25 on it with enough good timbers and stone. Of course, the tech train may say a different story lol.

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:27 pm At 0602 Friday 12/9/22, CSX CWR train W024 passed the Westfield cam and was reported by W Boylston as of noon.

At 4:29 pm Friday 12/9/22 thanks to Stony Brook Railroad Vids on You Tube passing through Chelmsford-------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NemsV75 ... WL&index=3

johnpbarlow wrote:At 0602 Friday 12/9/22, CSX CWR train W024 passed the Westfield cam and was reported by W Boylston as of noon.

Is this rail part of the grant?

They did run M42610 as well but not until 6 this morning, about 12 hours late. Late trains are the new normal now, but at least things are not as bad as they were a few months ago.

The latest Trains has an excellent article on BNSF's transcon meltdown, but it also mentions the other PSR US railroads. There is a section on the UP's power problems, which is the exact same thing going on at CSX. Basically, there are no extra engines due to them being controlled so tightly. There are no backup engines, even at the major yards like Selkirk, which works as long as nothing goes wrong.

The problem is this is railroading, things always go wrong.